C.K.U.A. and 40 wondrous years of radio

INTRODUCTION

The other day, our Program Manager received a call from a steady
listener who was concerned, she said, about the changing character

of CKUA.

After long discussion, it became apparent what really had changed
was the announcer on some of her favorite programs and, though
somewhat rearranged, the programs still contained the things she
enjoyed.

The call, in itself, was not unusual. We often get calls and letters
of this kind. And that is what still strikes me as unusual. I have
never seen a broadcasting station whose listeners have such a pro-
prietary interest in what the station does and how it does it. And
from conversations with some of the real CKUA old-timers, I gather
it has always been this way!

Marshall McLuhan, the currently popular oracle of the effects of
media, says radio is a ‘hot’ medium—that it requires very low in-
volvement by the listener—he doesn’t get involved with what is on
radio unless he wants to win a prize or get his favorite beef off his
chest. I’m inclined to agree. People get very involved in the content
of TV (a ‘cool’ medium) to the extent they are very upset when
it is changed or varied, but they normally don’t feel so strongly
about radio. So how to explain the strong involvement of a CKUA
listener?

I can’t. But I’m grateful for it. It keeps us in touch with reality
when we begin (as we often do) to experiment with new forms of
programming.

And having got that off my chest, I’m proud to invite you to join
with us in this review of 40 years of involvement.

Jack Hagerman
Station Manager

A LAMENT FOR OLD
RADIO PROGRAMS...

Have you ever watched TV on a Saturday morning? Shows like
“Space Ghost”, “Batfink”, “Spiderman”, “The Beatles”, ““Milton
the Monster”—then later ‘Frankenstein Jr”. They are certainly well
animated, color TV programs . . . but they don’t leave anything

for the imagination.

If you remember radio in the good old days you know that imagin-
ation played a very important part—when such old radio shows
as “The Lone Ranger”, “Batman”, “Superman”, and the “Green
Hornet” were adapted to TV something was left out—room for
our imagination to work. Everything was on the TV screen to see
and hear.

“Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear!” That’s
how the radio announcer introduced the Lone Ranger program—
and it seems very applicable when we think of the old days of radio.
We believed radio because it was so real and true, because it checked
out to the smallest detail. When Dick Tracy said that his secret
cryptography book could break any code in the world, he was right.
It could break both Captain Midnight’s and Orphan Annie’s codes.
When you broke the code, you usually got a hint of what was going
to happen in the next day’s episode.

And the people in radio in those days protected the listener’s imagi-
nation. When the actor who played the Lone Ranger was killed in a
car accident, several scripts were thrown out and replaced by pro-
grams in which the Lone Ranger was silent. Tonto took over and
the producers faced the problem of introducing a new voice without
startling the listener. The new Lone Ranger was injected gradually
into conversation to enable the listener to accept him. After his long
silence, he grunted a few words — croaked some sentences, then
finally in a full rich voice said, “Who's been watching the silver
mine, Kimosabe?”

Yes, radio had a great respect for its audience. Remember Lamont
Cranston, wealthy man-about-town? His vanishing act always
spelled defeat for the Forces of Darkness. ““The Shadow” was radio
in its glory—a marvelous phantom of our fancy. Years ago in the
orient, Cranston had learned the power to cloud men’s minds. Who
can forget the closing part of the program when the “Shadow” said
“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men — the Shadow
knows!”

Then there was Clark Kent, a mild-mannered reporter who would
sneak away from the city desk — duck into a closet and emerge
seconds later in his blue tights, red cape and matching monogrammed
sweat shirt and drop his voice two octaves (Tenor) “This is a job
for... (Bass) SUPERMAN!” We know he wasn’t a bird or a
plane—but our imagination told us he could hurtle over the tallest
buildings—stop an express train or race speeding bullets.

Britt Reid also knew a trick that. turned him into the “Green
Hornet”—TV will never replace the radio version. First came the
strains of the “Flight of the Bumble Bee’’, and the announcer would

Al Jolson

Fred Allen and Portland Hoffa

say “The Green Hornet — He
fights public enemies who try to
destroy our America!” We
didn’t mind the little American
propaganda because we knew
that the Green Hornet would
protect us in Canada too! He
would race around in his Black
Beauty fighting crime with his
faithful Filipino valet Kato—and
at the end of the program a
newsboy would shout the daily
Sentinel headline: ““Murder case
solved — Green Hornet still at
large”.

Steve Wilson of “Big Town”
didn’t have any special powers—
except the power of the press—
The Illustrated Press”—and he
fought crime just as hard, accom-
panied by his sweetheart Lorelei
Kilborne.

The commercials in the golden
days of radio were fun—remem-

ber — “L-A-V-A, L-A-V-A”

and “Don’t despair, use your
head, save your hair, use Fitch
Shampoo”. Then there was
fee. . for... Philip...
Morreeessss!"” And the commer-
cial that sounded like a train—
“Fight a headache . . . three ways
.. . BromoSeltzer, . . . Bromo-
Seltzer .. .” Yes, sound was King
in those days. With a little
music, a few sound effects and a
ghostly host, radio transported
you from your living room to a
fourth dimension. When Ray-
mond welcomed you with his
cheerily fiendish “Good evening
friends” . . . you could see the
vampires hopping out of their
coffins, just as you knew exactly
what Fibber McGee’s closet,
Jack Benny’s Maxwell and
Allen’s Alley looked like. And
when Frank Gallup said “Lights
Out”—no one got up to go to
the kitchen for a snack.

Most of radio didn’t chill your
blood—it warmed your heart.
The horror shows were far out-
weighed by the many comedies
that fused whole families in
laughter.

Radio dominated family life even
more than television does today.
In the golden age of radio we

Burns and Graci

Jimmy Durante

Will Rogers

i Jim and Marion Jordon, radio’s
“Fibber McGee and Mollie”

gathered around the big console
in the living room and settled
down to listen to: “Hello again
everybody, this is Jack Benny”.
He kept us laughing with run-
ning gags about his squeaking
violin — his age (39) and his
money vault whose keeper was
always wondering about the
health of President Coolidge.
Jack Benny’s running feud with
Fred Allen never failed to give us
a laugh.

There are far better ventrilo-
quists on TV today—but Edgar
Bergen made Charlie McCarthy
and Mortimer Snerd “live” on
radio.

When Walter Winchell, Gabriel
Heatter, H. V. Kaltenborn,
Elmer Davis, Edward R. Mur-
row and Canadian Lorne Green
brought you the news, you
listened! These were the men of
authority and they described the
world’s happenings so_ vividly
you would almost think you
were there. Nowadays TV news-
casters make it too easy with
actual film clips of news events.
Radio was so believable that
when Orson Welles’ “War of
the Worlds” went on the air the
entire east coast of the United
States was in panic. Never before
and never again has radio proved
so powerful. Are you an old
radio program enthusiast?

If you remember these old radio
programs put a check mark be-
side them — and see how you
score.

OLD RADIO
PROGRAM QUIZ

. Edgar Bergen &

Charlie McCarthy

. Fibber McGee &

Mollie

. The Jack Benny

Program

. The Fred Allen

Show

. Amos & Andy

. The Aldrich Family
. The Bob Hope Show

. The Life of Riley
. The Red Skelton

Show

. Bob Burns Show
. Lux Radio Theatre

. Ozzie and Harriet
. ,A Day in the Life of
Dennis Day

. Texaco Star Theatre ___
. Kraft Music Hall
. Album of Familiar

Music

Don McNeil’s
Breakfast Club
Club 15 with
Bob Crosby

. Grand OI Opry
. Big Sister

. Ma Perkins

. Lucy Linton

. Life Can be

Beautiful

Eddy Cantor

24.
25.

26.
27.

28.
. Wayne and Shuster

Right to Happiness
Pepper Young’s
Family

Our Miss Brooks
Woodhouse and
Hawkins

Jake and the Kid

Hour

. The Happy Gang
. Singing Stars of

Tomorrow

. Share the Wealth
. Treasure Trail

Opportunity Knocks

. The Shadow

. Inner Sanctum

. The Whistler

. The Lone Ranger
. The Green Hornet
. Big Town

. Superman

. I Love a Mystery
. Baby Snooks

. Boston Blackie

. Burns and Allen

Show

. Candlelight and

Virginia Payne in “Ma Perkins”

Silver

. World of Music
. Music Hour
. The Music Lovers’

Corner

. Concert Corner

LT PTET

Foster Hewitt

If you remember all fifty of these old radio programs you are truly
a radio enthusiast. If you recall half of them, that’s not too bad—
if you don’t remember any of them, you're too young, so go ask
your mother about them.

If the last five programs are familiar—you'’re a CKUA listener. The
Music Hour, radio’s longest running program is still heard on
CKUA. Concert Corner is now called “Concert at Nine’, and
“Music Lovers’ Corner” is now “Concert at One”. Of course,
“Candlelight and Silver” and “World of Music” are newer to
CKUA listeners, and are just two of the quality programs heard
every day of the week.

Now let’s look back on “Forty Wondrous Years of Radio”. First
how radio began and how CKUA took its place in the history of
radio.

Jac Benny
and Mary Livingston

The Happy Gang

a

ev

| j ’ a

; Newsmakers of Radio in Second World War
Bing Crosby (Churchill, F.D.R. and Stalin)

RADIO... IN THE BEGINNING!

In this, the 40th year of broad-
casting for radio station CKUA,
it is appropriate that we look
back to RADIO . . . In the
Beginning. With a wind-tossed
box kite holding a thin wire an-
tenna aloft in the stormy sky
over Signal Hill, at St. John’s,
Newfoundland, Guglielmo Mar-
coni plucked three barely audible
dots out of the electric air. It §
may have been prophetic that the
signal, flashed across the sea from
England’s coast of Cornwall,was
the letter “S” in morse Code,
three dots.

“S” for Sarnoff—the last name initial of a ten year old boy who had
been in the United States only a year, and who was destined to be
both prophet and father of the greatest communications complex in
the world — NBC — the National Broadcasting Company. This
giant of the broadcast industry almost established a national network
in Canada until the Canadian Government stepped in and created
the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission.

Marconi’s discovery on Signal Hill at St. John’s, Newfoundland on
December 12th, 1901, showed there was great promise for com-
munications without wires — “wireless” for the telegrapher and
“radiotelephony” for human voice.

For the next two decades there was great concern over the lack
of privacy in wireless communications. Old thinking was still
directed toward point-to-point communication, and it was discon-
certing that the signals scattered every which way and that anyone
who cared could listen.

In April of 1912, David Sarnoff picked up the wireless message —
“§.S. Titanic ran into iceberg — sinking fast.” This brought the
world’s attention to the radio station atop the Wanamaker store
in New York City where Sarnoff worked. Sleepless and almost
without food for three days and nights, David Sarnoff had the
attention of the world turned to the rooftop station which the
department store used primarily for communication with its Phila-
delphia branch store.

In the fall of 1915 Sarnoff suggested bringing music into homes by
the wireless, thus making radio a “household utility” like the piano

Thomas Alva Edison, as he made a
radio broadcast in 1928

or phonograph. The transmitting problems of music and voice had
been solved and he foresaw the receiver designed as a simple “Radio
Music Box” arranged to receive several wavelengths, and placed on
a table in the parlor or living room and obtaining sufficient reception
to make the performance enjoyable. It was half a decade or more
later that David Sarnoff’s prediction for radio (unfortunately
pioneered by others since his was considered a hair-brained scheme)
was vindicated.
Broadcasting in Canada started with some test programs in 1919
carried out by the Canadian Marconi Company of Montreal.
Regular organized programs commenced in December, 1919, by
the same company, and by 1922 broadcasting had been definitely
established throughout the country. The Marconi station was
XWA — now CFCF, Montreal.
Numerous experimental broadcasts, both here in North America
and in Europe, laid the foundation for CFCF, and many other
stations quickly followed. The first broadcast on record was made
by R. A. Fessenden who was born at East Bolton, Quebec, and was
a chemist with the Edison Laboratories. The broadcast was made
from Brant Rock, Massachusetts, on Christmas Eve, 1906. It was
heard by wireless operators on ships hundred of miles away. It
should be noted here that Thomas Edison was another who con-
tributed to the shaping of radio broadcasting. His invention of the
phonograph probably accounted for the survival of many early
radio stations which otherwise would have had to broadcast every-
thing “live”.
Some of the early live broadcasts included Dr. Lee DeForest’s
broadcast of Caruso’s voice from the stage of the Metropolitan
Opera in 1910, and the first transmission of the results of the
presidental election of 1916.
KDKA, Pittsburgh, operating
experimentally from 1916, made
its first scheduled broadcast on
November 2nd, 1920. WWJ
of Detroit has long claimed that
on August 31st, 1920, a radio
program was aired and that the
service has continued on a regu’
lar schedule thereafter. It would
. appear that XWA, now CFCF,
- operating since December, 1919,
_ as a public broadcaster of regu’
. larly scheduled programs is the
at. feel 1 aalladly ee oldest broadcasting station in the
shaped the broadcasting world world.

H. PD. BROWN GETS AN IDEAS

Now, how does CKUA fit into the overall history of broadcasting?
Well, in 1921, Mr. H. P. Brown, who was then in charge of the
visual aid department at the University of Alberta, went to the
United States during summer holidays to get some extra experience
in photography. While there, he heard one of the early radio broad-
casts from KDKA in Pittsburgh. Mr: Brown became interested in
the fascinating new gadget, and when he returned home he built
himself a homemade receiving set so he could tune in on the increas
ing number of American stations starting up in business. In those
days, with no government regulations, stations could set up power-
ful transmitters that could blanket the continent with their signals.
Early in 1937, the Havana Treaty provided an entirely new system
of frequency allocation for broadcasting stations in North America.

However, in the 1920’s, Mr. Brown of the U of A was able to pick
up broadcasts from all over the USA, Canada and even Mexico.
Gradually he realized the wonderful educational possibilities of
radio and in 1922 he suggested to Professor Ottewell that “it’d be
a right smart idea if our own University got in on the deal... like
the U of A operating a station of its own.” Professor Ottewell
agreed, but pointed out that the time was not yet ripe for such a
venture. Firstly, equipment being used by commercial radio stations
was pretty rickety stuff and still in the process of experimental
development, and would be obsolete in a year or two.

And, secondly — the University of Alberta didn’t have any money
for the purpose of fooling around with this new invention. This
seemed to settle the matter once and for all.

However, the radio idea continued to nag Mr. Brown for five whole
years right into 1927.

RADIOLA
RC

A radio receiver of the early 1920’s

BIRTH OF RADIO NETWORKS

During this period new and exciting things were happening in the
broadcast field. On June Ist, 1923, the president of Canadian
National Railways, Sir Henry Thornton, set up a Radio Department
within the CNR and shortly after a radio receiver was installed in
the observation car of a train. As the passengers crossed the con-
tinent their journey was periodically enlivened with concerts picked
up from American and Canadian stations en route. This was the
first time radio was used on a transcontinental train. Soon, radio
served all the main-line trains of the CNR system. On February
27th, 1924, the CNR’s first radio station was opened — it was
CNRO — now know as CBO in Ottawa. Eventually, Canadian
National Railways operated six radio stations in Canada — their
call letters all starting with CNR. They were responsible for start-
ing the first national network in Canada. These CNR stations
were the nucleus of the much later CBC network.

Meanwhile in the United States, David Sarnoff founded NBC on
November 15th, 1926, the first radio network in that country.
About a year later, on September 18th, 1927, the CBS Radio
Network was born. Eventually it was decided to split NBC into
two networks. The engineers who drew circuitry maps of the two
operations became confused and to keep things straight they iden-
tified them by two colors — thus the Red and Blue Networks of
the National Broadcasting Company were established. Later the
Blue Network was sold and became the American Broadcasting
Company. It wasn’t until 1937 that the Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation came into being .. . and it was later split into two net-
works: The Dominion Network and The Trans Canada Network
of the CBC.

i

"Early CKUA studio at U of A

TARING THE UNIVERSITY
TO THE DEOBPLE

In the early 1920's, while H. P. Brown was tinkering with his
home-made radio receiver, the history of educational broadcasting
was evolving. In 1922, members of the University of Alberta
Department of Extension, engaged in travelling in all weather and
speaking to audiences of varying sizes, saw the tremendous possi-
bilities of the new medium. ““Taking the University to the people”
would be greatly simplified as lecturers could speak from a room
in the University itself to many more people than could be reached
in any other way.

Arrangements were made with the Edmonton station, CJCA, then
operated by the Edmonton Journal, to carry lectures or talks by
the University professors who were obliged to travel to the Journal
Building where the studio (and the transmitter) was located. Later
a microphone and amplifier were installed in a corner of the
Director’s Office in the Department of Extension at the University,
with a telephone line to CJCA. In 1926, a “studio” was installed
by hanging burlap drapes from overhead cross-beams and some
music as well as lectures were fed to CJCA for transmission. It soon
became evident that the University would require its own station
to fully utilize the potential of the new medium.

EFARLY

EDMONTON RADIO COCO

In these hectic days of early Edmonton radio things didn’t always
run smoothly ... but the pace was very leisurely by current stand-
ards. The operator could shut a station off the air for several
minutes at a time. For instance, in CJCA’s control room you had
to go off the air to open the window. Evidently there was some
high voltage wires running right across the front of the window.
To open or shut the window the operator had to first stop broad-
casting. One fateful night Dick Rice tried to open the window
without shutting down the station, and was promptly knocked
unconscious. In those days radio was certainly not for the timid.

A late night feature on the
CJCA of the crystal set era was
Edgar Williams and his Pantages
Theatre Orchestra. Edgar and
the boys would lug their instru-
ments up to the fourth floor of
the Journal Building after their
late vaudeville show. They
would belt out “Barney Google”
or “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby”
in a manner that had the people
phoning in screaming for more.
There were three radio sta-
tions operating in Edmonton by
1926 — CJCA, operated by the
Edmonton Journal; CFCK, oper-
ated by Radio Supply Co. Ltd.
(owned at that time by Jim
Taylor and Hugh Pearson) and
a station operated by the Inter-
national Federation of Bible
Students with the call letters,
CHCY.

There was a time in Edmonton’s
early radio history that these
three stations had to share the
same frequency. This was mainly
due to the fact that powerful
US. stations had all the best
frequencies and there were only
a few allotted to Canada. This
however soon sorted itself out.
It wasn’t hard for the three sta-
to share the same fre-
y — there were still long
rs of silence. One night, two

stations went on the air at the same time. The Bible Students station
CHCY and CJCA started broadcasting together and it must have
sounded very confusing to the listeners. Evidently, the Bible station
checked CJCA’s schedule in the paper for that date, and according
to the Journal, CJCA was not going to be on the air. The news-
paper was produced and it was discovered that the date was right
but it was the previous month’s paper. That’s what could happen
in radio of 1926.

This was not the first or last time that these stations went on the
air at the same time. CJCA was carrying the coverage of one of the
Dempsey-Tunney fights and the broadcast went past CJCA’s al-
located time. CHCY decided this wouldn’t stop them from going on
the air — so they commenced broadcasting and once again the two
stations created much confusion for the poor listener. It was shortly

after this that CHCY had their license revoked.

Also around this time, CHCY had a bomb scare. Their transmitter
was out in the wilderness — right in the middle of the present sub-
division of Idylwylde. One Saturday night, the station control room
operator received a telephone tip that their transmitter was marked
for a dynamite plot. Station personnel and friends rushed to the
scene and discovered a parcel with a ticking sound coming from
inside. After dunking the parcel in a pail of water, it was opened.
They found a clock wired to four batteries which in turn were wired
to four giant firecrackers. By the way, one of the firecrackers went
off prematurely causing a great amount of excitement.

Radio station CHCY was followed by another religious station
— CHMA — operated by the Christian and Missionary Alliance
broadcasting from the Beulah Tabernacle, and it was through this
radio license that Taylor and Pearson got back into the broad-
casting business.

Goch Aa Icke Rice—CJCA in Journal Building

In 1933 they bought the Beulah Tabernacle license and called the
station CFTP — T.,P. for Taylor Pearson. Part of the bargain
allowed the Christian Missionary Alliance three hours free time
over the station on Sundays. It was a fortunate and timely trans-
action for the Christian Missionary Alliance, because shortly after-
wards the government cancelled all religious broadcasting licenses.
Incidentally, CFTP’s studio was one room on the top floor in the
Royal George Hotel. The transmitting tower consisted of one long
pole, poking out of a hotel window — and the pole remained there
for years after CFTP disappeared.

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» Maury Martakhatl Tery pradés

The early days of radio produced many wonderful experiences
— such as the Edmonton youth who built himself a new crystal
set. He found that by poling a wire from the set into the telephone *
he could both ground it and achieve an aerial at the same time. On
the night of this fabulous discovery there was a concert by the
Edmonton Symphony Society in the Empire Theatre. The boy’s
family went to the concert, but cold winter weather prompted him
to stay home and experiment with his new crystal set. He received
a clear pickup on CJCA and was amazed to hear that controls
were being switched to the Empire Theatre for the production.
He heard the entire program in the warm comfort of his home.
When the family returned, cold but enthusiastic about the concert,
he amazed them all with his account of the music as heard from
his set. How could this be — all this came through a few wires?
. Amazing? Yes... and radio is still amazing when you stop to think
about it.

Loces Bect pate PALLY Lee. Firat Facets

THE STRUGGGELE FOR CRUA .
TO GET ON THE AIR

By 1927, new equipment was being designed and radio was fluorish-
ing throughout the world, but the University of Alberta still didn’t
have money for fooling around with their own station. It was at
this point that Mr. Brown began to weave a tangled web of decep-
tion. When the question of grants for the University came up in
the legislature early in 1927 it contained a request for an extra .
$7,000 for a new lecturer in the Department of Extension. The
request was granted.

wt Fernanceal wat Leese tey

Uf uty XK,
wh

This par

Several months passed, during which no one noticed that the new
lecturer didn’t arrive on the scene. Nobody noticed that a number

AHeteiriatis

of electrical engineering students were suspiciously busy in their
spare time — building a radio transmitter and antenna. When it
was finished, the Department of Extension bought two windmill
towers 75 feet high, then added some old iron poles to make them
¢ )100 feet high and attached the antenna to them. They stood on
the campus until 1966! All of this assorted junk cost about $2,000.

A radio engineer by the name of W. W. Grant, then operating
CFCN at Calgary, was called upon to assist in the building of the
transmitter. The transmitter and towers were installed, along with
a small shack, south of Athabasca Hall. Then, they proceeded to fix
up some studios in what is now the University Power House. There
was a neat little control room and one big main studio; the studio
being quite a wondrous thing, if old photographs are any indication.
The walls were draped with burlap sacking which, by the way, had
been purchased for $25.00 from a local brewery. The studio con-
tained a grand piano plus an assortment of chairs. With all this
done, the new station was ready for business.

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H. P. Brown—first announcer Original CKUA transmitter towers at
1927-37 U of A campus—1927

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But CKUA wasn’t able to go
into business right away — there
was a little matter of a license to
operate. The U of A Extension
Department applied to the
proper authorities, only to be
informed that there were three
other licenses already granted in
Edmonton and that was
enough! However, this didn’t
stop our U of A radio pioneers.

They promptly went out for
another six hundred dollars,
which was found somewhere —
and they bought CFCK from
Radio Supply Company Limited.
Then they applied to have the
station's call letters changed to
CUOA — “U.O.A.” standing
for UNIVERSITY OF AL-
BERTA, but the authorities
advised that the first two letters
“CU” were allocated to another
country. After a great amount
of debate the letters “CKUA”

were decided upon.

Even with all this accomplished,
the troubles weren’t over. The
powers that be somehow got
wind of the missing $7,000 — or
rather they discovered that the
University of Alberta lecturer
supposed to be on staff was
missing, whereupon proceedings
were held up for six months
while questions were asked.

Presented with the accomplished
fact that the equipment was
ready and waiting for a dozen
or more lecturers to take to the
air on all manner of informative
subjects, there wasn’t much they
could do — so they finally gave
the go-ahead, and on November
21st, 1927, Radio Station
CKUA made its debut to the
Alberta people.

Early CKUA control room

Early CKUA broadcast—musical program

The first night CKUA went on the air was a memorable one — in
many ways! There was, for instance, the fact that on the first night,
CKUA couldn’t “get up” to its own frequency... couldn’t be
heard on its own frequency. Fortunately one of the men concerned
in the operation, Mr. W. W. Grant, happened to own radio
station CFCN in Calgary, which was on a nearby frequency...
and CKUA’s signal came in just beautifully on that one. Mr. Grant
promptly called Calgary and kicked his own station off the air
while CKUA got off to a good start.

Then there was the incident of the photographs. Mr. H. P. Brown,
whom you'll remember had started all the commotion in the first
place, brought along his photographic equipment to take pictures
of the participating artists. In those days there were no flash bulbs,
and he was using powder to set off his flashes. When he took the
first photograph, the nap on the burlap hanging in the studio
flashed into flame, and there was a bit of excitement until the fire
was put out.

Since that night in November, 1927, CKUA has been broadcasting
at 580 kilocycles. It entered the new and exciting field of radio
transmission with a simple, yet significant assignment... to take
the University to the people.

Through the intervening years CKUA has consistently abided by
the aspiration of its sponsors, a forward looking group of University
people who saw in radio broadcasting a unique opportunity for
public service. After 40 years of continuous operation, CKUA has
carved its own niche in the Hall of Radio Fame by creating a
Canadian Record for non-commercial public service broadcasting.

Dr. H. J. McLeod responsible for
station operation—1927

Prof. J. W. Porteus “assisted in
early days of CKUA

Prof. W. E. Cornish—assisted in
early days of CKUA

Though CKUA had only one
paid staff member when it be-
gan operating — Miss Sheila
Marryat — it never lacked for
enthusiastic personnel or talent.
All the finest artists in the City
of Edmonton actually vied with
each other to perform there —
for free!

Dr. Hector McLeod, head of
the Electrical Engineering De-
partment, and his assistants, Pro-
fessor J. W. Porteus and Profes-
sor W. E. Cornish were also
active in the early days of
CKUA.

Among the outside volunteers
was Mrs. J. B. Carmichael, of
Edmonton Civic Opera renown.
She organized and conducted
the CKUA Radio Orchestra.
This 20-piece group produced
programs of opera, symphony
and concert music. A music
circle, originating in her home,
was also picked up and broad-
cast with considerable success.
All CKUA pioneers had the
strong conviction that radio
could be a tremendous force in
the field of adult education.
Through CKUA’s formative
period there were willing allies
both within and without Univer:
sity halls. CKUA’s first control
room operator was a lad by the
name of Ed Jordan, who was a
workroom boy in the Depart-
ment of Extension.

:

: SS
Main CKUA studio—1929

While Ed was operating one day, a small difficulty arose when a
venerable professor went to the microphone to give a lecture. He
had a gap between his two front teeth. Everytime he used a word
with an ‘s’ in it he whistled, whereupon the station promptly went
off the air as there was no control over modulation in those days.
When you consider the number of words containing ‘s’ it’s small
wonder that for awhile listeners must have been curious as to
what was happening.

Later, as Ed Jordan operated the control board, he tinkered around
with ways and means by which the station might be cured of its
distressing habit of going off the air whenever anybody whistled
an ‘s’ at it. The result was his invention of the peak limiter to
control modulation — and for this he later obtained his Master’s
degree in physics. His invention became standard equipment for
all radio stations. In CKUA’s early days the program schedule
called for regular broadcasts Monday evenings from 8:00 to 10:30
and Thursday evenings from 8:30 to 10:30. Every second Monday
there was an organ recital from 4:45 to 5:45 p,m. As an added
attraction, a special women’s hour was broadcast with Miss Mabel
Patrick, head of the Household Science and Economics Department,
as hostess.

From that time on progress was rapid. Miss Marryat emerged as a
versatile radio technician and effectively performed the multiple
roles of program director, dramatist, script writer, hostess and play
adapter.

NN ———————————————————

CKUA MAKES PROGRESS ©0606

Mr. Brown, as Supervisor of
Visual Instruction with the Ex-
tension Department, was obliged
to confine his activities to an-
nouncing, creating and using
sound effects, and studio direct-
ing. The decline of legitimate
theatre under the avalanche of
motion pictures and radio, was
a source of grave concern to
many friends of drama. There
was a great desire of educational
institutions to keep the spirit of
theatre alive.

It was not surprising that Sheila
Marryat, with the backing of
her superiors, established a dra-
matic group known as CKUA
Players. This group did much
to keep alive the spark of theatre
during those dark years.

Among those who performed in
the old burlap-draped studio
were the late Inez Macdonald
and her husband Richard Mac-
donald, later to be director of
the Dominion Drama Festival.
There were Charles Sweetlove,
Les Pilcher, Frances Garness,
Farnham Howarth, Sue Laycock
and a host of others. One other

Ed Jordon—control operator 1927

Sheila Marryat—CKUA’s first
program director

Richard Macdonald—CKUA drama
producer/actor/ program director
38-41

who made his radio debut at this time was Sydney Lancaster who
later pioneered in Edmonton television.

After five years of successful operation the original equipment was
replaced by a new transmitter. Now powered by 500 watts, it had
a vastly increased range. Night test programs brought listener
response from points as far apart as New York and Hawaii.

CKUA’s studio controls and microphones were up dated and lines
from various points in the city were used for remote control pro-
grams. The University built its own lines to the football field and
the University Hospital recreation “Hut” from which point weekly
programs of popular music were picked up. These Hut concerts
were given for the veterans of the First World War still in hospital.
Many musical artists contributed their services. Through the cov
operation of Alberta Government Telephones, hook-ups were
established with Red Deer and Calgary stations, which, with the
later addition of CJOC Lethbridge became the famous “Foothills
Network” in 1934.

Later, CKUA was replaced by CJCA as the Edmonton station for
this network. Remember having your lunch and listening to a very
telephonic sound of “King Cotton” and an announcer saying, “Here
are the closing grain prices from Calgary.” On May 23rd, 1929,
the first school broadcast in Canada took place from CKUA. With
few receivers then in schoolrooms, the radio dealers co-operated by
placing receivers in the schools for the day. In 1930 inter-varsity
debates were broadcast over stations in Alberta, Saskatchewan and
Manitoba by co-operation between the government telephone sys-
tems in the three prairie provinces.

Oa

CKUA JOINS THE FIRST
NATIONAL NETWORK

As we mentioned earlier, Canadian National Railways had a net-
work of its own stations. Eventually, in 1930, many private stations
were added in an effort to give more national service. CKUA was
added on several occasions as was CJCA. However, it’s interesting
ta note that CNR Radio network was most active when CNR
Transcontinental trains were highballing across the countryside
because all trains at that time were equipped with radio receivers.
The first CNR Network broadcast from Edmonton originated in
CKUA’s studios with a program by Vernon Barford’s choir.

ay : . Pre

Early CKUA football commentators at broadcast booth on U of A campus

Sports activities were broadcast from a special hut on the Univer-
sity’s playing field and from the hockey rink and main gym, from
which point basketball championship games were broadcast. The
first football game was broadcast on October 13th, 1928, when the
University of Alberta Golden Bears played against the old Edmon-
ton Eskimos.

During these early years CKUA had a large country audience and
many of the programs were slanted towards rural living. The Music
Hour, the Homemaker’s Hour, the Old Timers’ Dances from
Memorial Hall and the “Hut” concerts from the University Hospital
were the sugar coating on the educational prescription. A series
of Sunday afternoon music appreciation programs by Vernon Bar-
ford were well liked and organ recitals were picked up from various
city churches through the co-operation of their organists. Frequent
recitals were also given on the University’s own organ in Convoca-
tion Hall. Occasionally religious plays were included in the Sunday
afternoon programs.

The teaching of foreign languages by radio commenced in 1932.
French, and later, German were taught. Other courses were given
in various subjects including a series of zoology lectures by Dr.
Rowan. These lectures featured demonstrations in bird migration
in which canaries and crows were used. The canaries were kept in
a cage at the foot of Dr. Rowan’s garden, open to the weather. One
Christmas the canaries were broadcast singing away in ten below
weather. The old-type carbon button microphone froze up but the
canaries continued to sing.

But radio really wasn’t for the birds — great things were happening.
Although station originations, remote broadcasts, educational fea-

Hut concerts—from Red Cross Hut at University Hospital—Leon Baker’s
Hawaiian orchestra on stage

tures and music appreciation continued to be a main part of
CKUA’s programming, an increasing number of hook-ups with
other stations and networks greatly broadened CKUA’s scope. The
Canadian National Railway’s network was further expanded with
CKUA as its more permanent Edmonton outlet and programs were
alternated between CKUA and CNRV in Vancouver. By 1934
the Foothills network — composed of CKUA, CFAC Calgary and
CJOC Lethbridge, was well established. The first citizen’s forum,
then called the Round Table, was organized, coming first from
Calgary with prominent citizens taking part and later alternating
between Edmonton and Calgary. A Farm Radio Forum was another
feature of the Old Foothills network.

Also in 1934, the Taylor & Pearson Broadcasting Company gave
up its association with CFTP, and entered into an agreement with
the Edmonton Journal, licensee of CJCA, to operate the Journal
station. With the frequency and facilities of CFTP available, G. R.
A. Rice left CJCA and formed the Sunwapta Broadcasting Com-
pany in partnership with Hans F. Neilson, and applied for and
received the call letters CFRN — “R” for Rice, “‘N” for Neilson.
The original CFRN transmitter consisted of a 100-watt Marconi
unit operating on 1260 Kilocycles.

RADIO GROWS UP ©O©OO©O

Most of the radio stations in North America were developed by men
who had a “bug” on electronics. Few bothered or were able to assess
the potential of radio. For many, it was a happy-go-lucky experience,
financed largely by selling time to religious groups and patent
medicine dealers. The broadcasting of local sports events and church
services came into being. Then the amateur show — followed by
numerous adenoidal singers with guitars, the hillbilly band, the
request program, with the deluge of mail from people wanting to
hear their names read over the air (that facet of radio has never
left us). Yes, radio was growing up and CKUA was leading the
way with quality programming bringing educational programs and
good music to the people of Alberta.

The tenth anniversary of CKUA saw a tie-up of all Alberta sta-
tions in November of 1937. The Canadian Radio Broadcasting Com-
mission, established in 1932 had come and gone. The Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation was now in its formative years and
CKUA was the CBC’s Edmonton outlet. In 1937, it was releasing
235 CBC programs and the Western Regional network was carry-
ing CKUA’s drama series ““New Lamps for Old”.

In 1938, Sheila Marryat, who had played a very important part in
the programming department of CKUA, left to join the CBC at
Winnipeg and H. P. Brown returned to his Visual Instruction to
give his full time to that steadily expanding service.

Mr. Brown was replaced as Chief Announcer and Studio Super-
visor by Richard Macdonald. Plays by Elsie Park Gowan and Gwen

E. A. Corbett in special speaking studio—1934

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anaes ake ‘lea
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CKUA control room about 1937 in extension depart of U of A

Pharis were being carried from CKUA by the CBC with Mrs.
Gowan directing the players. School broadcasts were now being
received by 500 schools. The studios in the Department of Extension
were rebuilt and new microphones and control room equipment
installed.

It became evident by 1940 that a new and more powerful trans-
mitter was needed as new stations coming on the air were conflicting
with CKUA and reception became poor in many parts of the prov-
ince, particularly in the north. A 1000 watt transmitter on the
Calgary Highway was opened on September 29th, 1941. Coverage
of the station was greatly increased from Peace River in the north
to a line through High River and Vulcan in the south. CKUA was
still the basic CBC station in Edmonton; 43% of the station broad-
cast time was devoted to CBC programs.

Early in 1944, CKUA was to make another first in broadcasting
— the first actual newscast to be sent by telephone lines to the
north country. At the request of the American Army, CKUA
began sending its regular 10:00 p.m. newscast to CFWH White-
horse, Yukon, via an American Army line which was tied up
specially for the purpose every night. It’s very interesting to note
that nobody could make a phone call in or out of the Yukon while
the news was on. This arrangement continued through successive
ownerships of the line by the American Army, the RCAF and the
Northwest Communication System which was a subsidiary of Cana-
dian National Telegraphs. Early in 1950 CFWH joined the CBC
network and CKUA’s newscasts were no longer required.

'

oadcast booth in old Mfg. g. E monton Exhibition

In May of 1948, millionaire Milton Reynolds landed in Edmonton
midway on a round-the-world-flight. He told a CKUA announcer
that his radio had failed 1,200 miles from Edmonton, Reynolds
disclosed he “homed in” on the city on CKUA’s signal. Remember,
CKUA was still powered at 1000 watts.

Also in 1948, CKUA was granted Edmonton’s first FM radio
license, and put a 250 watt FM transmitter on the air at 98.1 mega-

cycles.

ALBERTA GOVERNMERNT
TELEPHONES TAKES OVER
OPERATION OF CKUA

In September of 1944 a Radio Program Committee of the Univer-
sity Faculty took over the responsibility of CKUA from the Depart-
ment of Extension which had carried the load since the station went
on the air. On May Ist, 1945, Alberta Government Telephones
took over CKUA with Walker Blake as station manager. The Uni-
versity retained three hours of broadcast time daily Monday through
Friday for its programs. On July 28th, 1945, the studios were
moved from the University Campus to the Provincial Building in
downtown Edmonton.

For many years applications had
been made to the Department of
Transport for CKUA’s com-
mercial license. In 1945, a third
bid was submitted and it too was
unsuccessful. About this time the
Manitoba Telephone System sold
its two commercial radio sta-
tions. Because CKUA’s repeated
applications for a commercial
license had been turned down,
speculation mounted that the
Alberta station would also be
sold. However, W. A. Fallow,
then Minister of Telephones,
moved fast to halt the rumor.
He told the press: “CKUA will
not be sold. CKUA will remain
the voice of the Alberta people.”
He added: “We regard CKUA
as the last outpost of radio free-
dom in Canada — and CKUA
will remain free.” Speculation
and rumors persist to this day,
but CKUA is still Canada’s
Unique Station — the only full-
time non-commercial station in

Canada.

In May of 1949, Jack Hagerman,
now station manager, joined
CKUA as lowly staff announcer.
He had originally worked for
several years at CFQC, Saska-
toon. Other announcers at that
time were Reg Shawcross and
Don Rollans. In September of
1949 a young high school stu-
dent by the name of Joe Mc

Callum, who had been doing a
series of school broadcasts called
“Musical Playtime” in 1948-49,
joined CKUA’s announcing
staff. At the same time, Geoff
Nightingale and Tony Biamonte,
now a longtime favourite on
CFRN, also came on the scene.

CKUA-FM transmitter on the air 1948

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Main control room CKUA in Prov. Bldg. 1948

Geoff eventually became CKUA’s news director. Tony, while an
announcer at CKUA, handled many of the popular classical music
programs. He even had his own program where he sang operatic
arias with his pretty wife Dorothy. One day Tony was forced into
doing the Saturday morning Country and Western Show “Saddle
Serenade”, a live studio program featuring many local cowboy
singers. Someone called him the “Italiano Cowboy” and the name
has stuck ever since.

Meanwhile, Reg Shawcross and Joe McCallum were conducting
one of CKUA’s most popular late night request shows “Command
Performance’. Remember the theme “Opus #1” by Tommy
Dorsey? And the requests!!! It seems nobody got tired of hearing
“My Happiness” by Ella Fitzgerald and “Blueberry Hill” by Louis
Armstrong. About this time Jack Hagerman originated a favourite
Sunday morning program—“Jerry Sears Conducts.” Also a well
known Edmonton musician, Gaby Haas, was being featured on
“European Melodies’ —Gaby is now heard weekly on “Continental
Musical” and “European Music Shop.”

——— Ss a <r

PARADE OF CKUA
RADIO PERSONALITIES

Bob Wilson—now with John O’Leary—now with Don Rollans—1948
CBC CBC

Joe McCallum with Jack Tony Biamonte Bill Pinko—CKUA’s
Hagerman at controls chief technician

During the late 1940's CKUA announcers included John O'Leary
and Bob Wilson, presently with the CBC and Arthur Hiller, later to
become one of Hollywood's top writer/producers. In 1946 Bill Pinko
joined CKUA as staff announcer. However, his enthusiasm for the
technical side of radio prompted him to switch to the position of
transmitter technician. He is now chief technician and is responsible
for all CKUA’s modern equipment, including the new 10,000 watt
transmitter.

One of the best known sports commentators in Alberta, Art Ward,
became CKUA’s sports director in 1947. Art began his radio career
in Calgary as an announcer during the late 1930’s. Early in 1940
he joined CFRN Edmonton and in 1943 became a sports commen’
tator on that station. CKUA listeners will remember Art Ward

Art Ward, CKUA Sportscaster with Joe Louis—1945

Reg. Shawcross with Mrs. Bertha Biggs—1949.

for his many hockey broadcasts of Edmonton Flyer games. He was
also an avid baseball follower and commentator.

Walker Blake was still manager of CKUA at this time and the late
Jim McRae was program director. John Langdon came along in
October, 1947, to become a special program manager in charge of
school broadcasts. Alex Rankin, who later became a familiar news
personality on CFCN Radio and TV in Calgary, was a studio
operator in those days.

BOB GOULET MAKES HISs
DEBUT ON CKUA

In the fall of 1950, Joe McCallum was conducting auditions for a
program called “High School Highlights”. Among the reporters
from the various high schools in Edmonton was Bob Goulet, report-
ing for St. Joseph’s High School. Bob continued on the weekly show
until school ended in June, 1951. Although Bob Goulet’s main
ambition was to be a concert singing star, he was also enthusiastic
about becoming a radio announcer. However, at this time Bob had
a very noticeable French accent. Through the efforts of Bertha
Biggs, CKUA’s voice coach, and Joe McCallum, this drawback
was soon overcome. Bob’s persistence paid off and in October of
1951 he started work as a staff announcer at CKUA. He continued
his singing lessons and in August of 1953, he left CKUA to further
his singing career in Eastern Canada. It should be pointed out here
that fellow announcers had to keep studio and control doors closed
when they were on the air because Bob had a habit of practising
scales on the spur of the moment. On many an occasion, CKUA
listeners were treated to a spontaneous burst of singing in the back-
ground, much to the surprise of the announcer on duty.

Bob Goulet with CKUA’s Gil Evans—taken on one of Goulet’s recent visits
to Edmonton

THE SAGA OF
STEVE WOODMAN

Then there was Steve Wood-
man. Steve was a mischievous
type. He was an announcer for
both CJCA and CFRN but he
liked CKUA best of all. Here,
Steve could be an announcer,
disc jockey, singer, actor for
school broadcasts and play the
piano to his heart’s content. One
of his favourite tricks was to
play a recording on the air of
Doris Day doing ‘Moonlight
Bay”, then he would open his

ld

Steve Woodman—former CKUA
announcer

microphone and sing along with
her as a duet. Voice characteriz-
ations were also one of his ac
complishments. Perhaps you'll re-
member his “Squeaky the Elf”.
Another favourite trick of
Steve's, when he was doing a late
night show, was to open a studio

room, then get up and walk
around to the studio, sit down
and play the piano. Of course
there was a lot of “dead air”
while he walked to the studio,
but the listeners loved it. Steve
Woodman later moved to CFCF
in Montreal and then to Los An-

microphone from the control geles, California.

CKUA PERSONALITIES
DAST AND PRESENT

Also, in 1951, Earl Olsen joined the CKUA staff and continued
with the station until 1956. Earl is now with CFCN Radio and TV
News Department and is periodically seen on the CTV National
News, reporting from Calgary. Armand Baril, now program direc-
tor for CBC Edmonton, was once a CKUA announcer as was Alan
Hood, who is now occasionally seen in CBC dramatic programs
from Toronto.

About this time, another shuffle in management came about. Walker
Blake left CKUA to manage the AMA and John Langdon became
Manager. A bright enthusiastic chap by the name of Ivor Roberts,

Ivor Roberts as program director— Armand Baril
early 1950’s

who was the copy chief and formerly at CJCA, was appointed pro-
gram director.

The University of Alberta Radio Service and the U of A Radio
Society were also very active. Names like Jim Redmond and Dave
McDonald should ring a bell. Many a time they could be heard on
the “Music Hour” which by the way, is the oldest, cantinuous pro-
gram on the air today. Jim Redmond was a commentator on many
of the University’s sporting events broadcast direct from the campus.
Dave Gell, who started his radio career at CFAC Calgary, moved
to CJCA and then while attending the U of A was an announcer
at CKUA. Dave later moved to be a disc jockey on Radio Luxem-
bourg and inlater years has been a popular personality on British
television.

The list of former announcers seems endless: Pat McDougall, Bill
Wynne, Jim Waddell, Vic Williams, Frank Dolphin, Elmer Devore,
Terry Moore—and Bryan Hall, now at CJCA. Jack Hagerman likes
to recall the time when Bryan first worked for the station.

It was an election night and the various members of the CKUA
staff were stationed in different parts of the city to do remote broad-
casts on election results. However, one of the returning officers was
directly across the street from the Provincial Building. So, it was
decided that no remote line would be necessary—someone could just
dash across the street and get the results and dash back and put
them on the air. That someone, because he was the junior member
of the staff, was Bryan Hall. Jack says, “Bryan must have huffed and
puffed up to CKUA studios on the third floor about 50 times that
night—smiling all the time and enjoying every minute of it.” That’s

he hs Pr fd Kia Gin An

George Lake and his Hawaiian orchestra did weekly broadcasts
in the early 1950’s

what you call real enthusiasm for a radio career. Bryan was at
CKUA until December 24, 1955. It was also in 1955 that John
Langdon left CKUA and Jack Hagerman became manager. Pat
McDougall was appointed program director, later to be replaced
by Tony Cashman.

While holidaying in Vancouver in 1956, Mr. Hagerman was in-
formed that one of his announcers had suddenly quit and the station
was in desperate need of a new announcer. Jack had heard about a
promising young man who had been active in the U.B.C. Radio
Society and was now working at the Canada Dry Bottling plant in
Vancouver. The young man’s name was Gil Evans. An interview
was hastily arranged and Gil and Mr. Hagerman met in the plant’s
parking lot. Jack hired Gil on the spot and before the decisive man-
ager got back from his holiday, Gil was working at CKUA and has
been a very popular radio personality ever since.

Jim Edwards, who joined
CKUA in June of 1958, is
another announcer who made
good! Jim left CKUA in Septem-
ber 1963 and worked for a short
time at CHQM in Vancouver.
He later returned to Edmonton
and was appointed program
director for CFRN - FM.

Truly CKUA has contributed
much to the broadcast industry
—especially announcers!

H. D. (Harry) Carrigan has
long been associated with
CKUA. In 1933 Harry won a
playwriting contest and later his
prize winning play “Greater
Love’ was broadcast by the
CKUA players. It wasn’t until
1937 that Harry started giving
informative talks on topics of the
day. He continued this on a free-
lance basis until 19477 when he
commenced the job of CKUA’s
legislative reporter, which by the
way, was a first for CKUA in
Western Canada. He wrote and
reported from the Alberta Legis-
lature until he retired in 1956.
H. D. Carrigan is still active in
writing and public relations.
Since 1950, he has been the host
on the Irish section of “The Old

Country Melodies” program.

ul Tatarewicz

al

Herb Johnson ‘aah Bryan Hall

Jim Edwards

Don Rust

1 ee

Doug Morton Gil “Evans

Radio announcers are always playing practical jokes on each other
—-like setting a waste paper basket on fire in the studio while an
announcer is reading a newscast. That’s the real fun, especially if
there’s something like old rags to make lots of smoke. Then there’s
the old trick of setting a fellow announcer’s script on fire while he’s
on the air reading it—it’s a race with time to see who finishes first,
the announcer or the fire.

Sometimes the announcer plays jokes on the listener,—like the time
Armand Baril and Joe McCallum put CHFA on the air through
CKUA’s facilities. As we said before, Armand worked at CKUA
for a short time then moved over to CHFA. He was a bilingual
announcer. One evening Joe was talking to Armand on the phone
and Armand said CHFA was off the air because of transmitter
trouble. After a brief discussion they came up with the idea that
Armand could do a program from the CHFA control room and Joe
would put it on the air over CKUA. Every radio station has broad-
cast lines built into their equipment and it was a simple matter to
have the telephone company connect the two stations. Armand put
on a delightful little program of popular French songs, announcing
each one of them in English. This is a little known story and Bernie
Gagnon, manager of CHFA, will probably be surprised when he
reads of it.

There are many other jokes announcers play on each other, however,
some are not printable.

INCREASE OF BOWER TO
10.000 WATTS

On March 9th, 1960, CKUA increased its broadcasting power to
ten thousand watts. The new transmitter improved station quality
and pushed its signal to almost all points in Alberta.

Highways Minister Gordon Taylor, the former Telephones Minister
in charge of CKUA, officially threw the switch to send the station
to its new power. The transmitter was officially declared ““On the
Air” by Raymond Reierson.

Station Manager Jack Hagerman summed up the purpose and policy
of the station by saying, “We have nothing to sell but service”.
CKUA will continue to provide programs not offered elsewhere on

the radio dial.

Broadcast of CKUA increase in power to 10,000 watts. Shown are Hon. Gordon

Taylor and Hon. Raymond Reierson, also Jack Hagerman, Manager

CKRUA TODAY SERRE

The present program director at
CKUA is A. W. (Tony) Cash-
man. He was appointed to that
position May Ist, 1961. Tony is
well qualified for the job as his
experience in the broadcast in-
dustry shows. He began his radio
career in 1949 as a newsman at
radio station CFRN. The follow-
ing year he joined CJCA where
he worked for ten years as a
newsman and author of the sta-
tion’s “Edmonton Story”. The
program was later compiled in
the form of two books “The Ed-
monton Story” and “More Ed-
monton Stories”. He also wrote
“Vice Regal Cowboy”, a biogra-
phy of J. J. Bowlen, Lieutenant-
Governor of Alberta in the
1950's, and “Heritage of Serv-
ice”, a colorful history of nursing

-

Tony Cashman

in the province. His most recent
publication is titled “History of
Motoring”. Mr. Cashman’s ex-
perience as an author, a former
radio newsman, and his appreci-
ation of quality music, truly
made him an excellent choice as

CKUA’s program director.

Don Gillis

Kent Oliver Ron Durda Gordon Olsen

As can be seen in the past history of CKUA announcers come and
go. In the fall of 1967, CKUA’s announcers consisted of Gil Evans,
Bill Coull, Don Gillis, Herb Johnson, Ed Kilpatrick, Gordon Olsen
and Doug Morton. CKUA’s newsmen were Carl Noack, Kent
Oliver, Ron Durda and Tony Davis. These were the “Centennial
Year” announcers, and if CKUA’s past history is any criterion

you'll be hearing more about these men in the history of broadcast-
ing.

REVIEW OF CKUA °°FIRSTs*°

The “firsts” that have been scored by CKUA are numerous and
notable in the history of broadcasting. Let’s review them briefly.
The first “Peak Limiter’ ever used in radio was invented by
CKUA’s first control room operator Ed Jordan. The station origi-
nated Canada’s first school broadcast, made the first play-by-play
football broadcast in Western Canada; first to broadcast inter-
varsity debates; became the first Edmonton station to carry a net-

CKUA’s 30th Anniversary open house

work broadcast linking other provincial stations to form the Foot-
hills Network and to broadcast the first National Network radio
program heard in Edmonton. First to broadcast Alberta dramas
written by Alberta authors and featuring Alberta talent in the cast,
first to broadcast an “‘Alcoholics Anonymous” program; first station
to send a newscast by telephone line to the Yukon and the far north
country. First to broadcast legislative commentaries from the Press
Gallery of a provincial legislature during sessions; first “FM” station
in Edmonton; first and only TEN THOUSAND WATT full-time
non-commercial AM radio station in Canada.

Yes there are many CKUA ‘firsts’ and these are but a few that high-
light CKUA’s Forty Wondrous Years of Broadcasting.

SALUTE TO RADIO

We've told you about the great radio programs of yesteryear—how
radio began—and how CKUA’s Forty Wondrous Years of Broad-
casting fit into the history of radio.

At this time, we would like to salute the other Canadian radio
stations, especially those in Alberta, which also contributed much
to our radio history: Edmonton’s CJCA, CFRN, CHED, CBX,
CHFA and CHQT. Calgary’s CFCN, CRAC, CKXL, CHQR,

CBR and CHFM-FM; CJOC and CHEC in Lethbridge; CHAT
Medicine Hat; CKRD Red Deer; CJDV Drumheller; CFCW
Camrose; CFGP Grande Prairie; CKYL Peace River and CKSA
Lloydminster.

Some of them are new and some are older than CKUA, but like
CKUA, they also strive to bring entertainment and information to
the people of Alberta.

QU
THE NEXT FORTY YEARS?

Because scientific knowledge, especially in communications, is piling
up faster than we can digest and store it, the changes in radio will
be swift and dramatic. There will be no gentle evolution. Devices
become obsolete while still on the drawing boards. The two-way
wrist radio of Dick Tracy comic fame is no longer a cartoonist’s
dream. Miniaturized circuits now permit transceivers to be placed
into a fantastically small area, so we may all be permanently “tuned
in” as well as able to talk and receive via our personal wavelength
on our wrist radios.

Radio stations of the future could be completely automated with one
man programming and controlling the output of a computer. Radio
broadcasts from the moon will become commonplace as synchronized
satellites far out in space bounce signals from Earth to moon, keep-
ing us in touch with the people at moon base.

Music will always be with us but we may have to adjust to the
electronic cadenzas of the computer—and recorded music may be
played back via laser, eliminating any possibility of surface noise or
distortion.

Commercials, as such, will disappear as sponsors turn to the 3-D
projections of their products in the home via closed circuit “selling”
circuits, selected by the home programmer. The disappearance of
commercials will be no shock to CKUA however—it has managed
to project radio of the future for over 40 years——and, in its own
inimitable way, will continue to fulfil the original intention of radio
—to inform and entertain—to keep pace with the approaching 21st
century.

x ——

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i

Art
EVANS

Hope was hilarious,
was incorrigible. One

drama too;

Said to “Big Sister,” along

,” she should remember that “Life Can Be

and everyone has, “The Right to Happiness,” in-
e@ Man’s Family,”

*
It wasn’t all Wondrous

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Credits:— Canadian Broadcasting Corp., National Broadcasting Company,
Sunwapta Broadcasting Company, Hugh E. Pearson, (Mrs.) H. P. Brown,
H. D. Carrigan, D. Dahlgren, Alberta Provincial Library, Aird Commission
Report on Broadcasting, Edmonton Public Library—and everyone who very
kindly supplied information and photographic material which made this
publication possible.

Copyright 1967

UNIVERSITY CY ALBERTA

Eee eee eT
ARCHIVES

Accession No. 73-/69 e.uf